Bring Her Back Review

Horror exists in two kinds: gratuitous and disturbing. Gratuitous horror feeds on gore and shock - consider the Evil Dead or Final Destination films, where body horror is featured front and centre. Disturbing horror, on the other hand, lingers beneath, disturbing us with death, guilt and trauma - consider Rosemary's Baby or The Shining. These are not your regular horror films, never enjoyable, and frequently bring new, unsettling concepts.

Death is one such concept. We never really experience our own death, but the loss of loved ones leaves an indelible mark. And because human beings can think up anything, we tend to think about undoing that loss - resurrecting the dead, sometimes at the cost of other deaths. Throughout cultures, there are numerous occult practices and narratives that struggle with that desire, though no evidence is available that the dead can ever be resurrected. Still, the idea endures as a recurring motif in art, literature and cinema. Bring Her Back pounces on this idea. It offers no comfort, no fleeting relief. And that, in its own way, is what makes it powerful.

17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and his younger, visually impaired step-sister Piper (Sora Wong) are sent to live with foster mother Laura (Sally Hawkins) after their father's sudden death. Laura, also mourning her own blind daughter Cathy, is eccentric but kind-hearted - particularly towards Piper, whom she regards as a substitute for Cathy. Andy soon begins to feel uneasy, observing Laura's preoccupation with Piper and the unnerving behaviour of her other foster child, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), a silent boy with weird habits. As time passes, the siblings realize that they have walked into a nightmare they never imagined.

The twin directors, Danny and Michael Philippou, are regarded as contemporary horror masters - although they've only directed one film prior to Bring Her Back. Their first, Talk To Me, was a supernatural horror film that did something new with its creative idea. It was creepy but not bloody, disturbing but not grotesque - and that originality made it memorable. Comparisons with their first film are inevitable, of course.

Unlike Talk To Me, Bring Her Back is closer to true-crime horror, with faint hints of the supernatural only in the periphery. Here again, however, the Philippous eschew shallow gore. Rather, they allow fear to seep in through clever writing and unsettling disclosures. The horror is less in the jump scares and more in the disturbing rationale behind the plot.

As the plot unfolds, layer after layer of evil plotting is uncovered, and each discovery is unsettling. One chilling example [spoiler alert] is when the mourning foster mother appears to be grieving for her dead daughter. But subsequently, the ghastly reality is revealed: the body of the girl is stored in a freezer, while the woman conceals an even more sinister secret regarding a missing boy.

These are scattered throughout the story, shocking the audience repeatedly. The result is a movie that leaves you on tenterhooks, repelled yet mesmerized, till the very end.

As all this is happening, you come to realize that the innocent characters are totally oblivious of the evil plot. A few are so helpless that even if they did know the truth, they would have no way of defending themselves. And ironically, even the plot's mastermind is not exempted. This pitiful, near-tragic cycle intensifies the horror, making you sympathize with the victims while realizing that, ultimately, everyone is a victim, including the villain.

To complement this situational horror, the Philippou brothers utilize practical effects with restraint but precision to base the horror in disturbing realism. The pace of the film also serves its character - it is fast and free of clutter, with not an ounce of anything unnecessary.

Among the actors, Sally Hawkins stands out the most, as the unnerving centre of this domestic nightmare. A talented actress, she provides a frantic but complex performance. Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, playing the foster brother and sister, imbue emotional complexity, eliciting true empathy from you.

And then there is Phillips, acting as the creepy kid - a role usually boiled down to Chucky-esque stereotypes in horror movies. But the character is far from predictable in this one. For the majority of the film, he acts as a cold and emotionless pawn, and it is because of his stone-faced indifference that his actions are all the more disturbing. His skill in being able to keep that creepy calm is impressive for a kid his age.

Coming to the technical values, Bring Her Back will be notable for its frugal use of sound and visual design. In an age when the majority of horror movies are relying on over-the-top jump scares and CGI excess, this movie actively avoids them. Yes, there is blood - but never unnecessarily. The Philippous depend pretty much solely on practical effects, created physically instead of digitally, allowing the horror a raw, tactile quality. Nothing is done artificially or over-the-top. The violence is contained in relation to contemporary body-horror overindulgence, but it feels real and plausible, and thus even more terrifying.

Practical effects aside, this movie also draws from real-life situations, and stages the scenes as they might have unfolded in reality. As a result, the screenplay and dialogues feel authentic - neither rehearsed nor overly literary.

Bring Her Back is a one of a kind horror movie that deserves your money. Go for it. But be warned: it will disturb you.